Rakhi Voria
Rakhi Voria
Colorado College
Participant in the 2010 ACM Student Symposium on Off-Campus Study
Program: ACM Business, Entrepreneurship, & Society - Fall 2009
Graduation: May 2011
Major: International Political Economy
Minor: Journalism
Entrepreneurship & Innovation: An Exploration of the Lessons I Learned from Creating My Own Business
The Business, Entrepreneurship, & Society Program in Chicago was the perfect supplement to the business foundation that I have laid out for myself through my studies at Colorado College. Not only did I have the opportunity to explore the intricacies of entrepreneurship and innovation through classroom exercises and readings, but I was also able to meet with several Chicago entrepreneurs in order to gain real world business knowledge.
In order to fully understand the amount of passion, dedication, and hard work necessary to succeed as an entrepreneur, we worked in groups to create our very own start-up businesses. We spent the majority of the semester coming up with a solid business plan — complete with concept testing evidence, an industry analysis, competitive analysis, marketing plan, and business model — just as we would if we were to actually start our own company one day. Our final executive summary and presentation were presented to venture capitalists and investors in Chicago and we were provided with in-depth feedback on our work. The entire experience thoroughly helped me to understand the many challenges entrepreneurs face. I now have real world business experience that will stay with me even after my college years.
Preparing to "pitch" a start-up business to a group of venture capitalists and investors.
My presentation will discuss the long process that I went through in order to create a fully-working and implementable new business. I'll draw upon the experiences that I had during the business program and explain how they shaped the entire business proposal creation. I plan to share information on the business my group created and how the work we did continues to apply to my life even beyond the ACM program.
Photos and materials on this page are courtesy of the presenter.
Photos and the contents and materials in this presentation may not be reproduced or used in any way without the express, written consent of the presenter.